On September 22, the launch ceremony of the 2025 Overseas Chinese (Zhongshan) Essay Competition Series was held at China (Hong Kong) English School (CHES). The event was jointly organized by the Guangdong Provincial Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese and the Zhongshan Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese. Dr Jonathan K.C. Choi, Chairman of the school's board of directors and advisor to the Zhongshan Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, attended the ceremony.

▲Overseas students from the school have been invited multiple times to participate in the "Root-Seeking Journey in China" Summer Camp.

Since its establishment in 2015, the competition has been held for seven consecutive years, attracting over ten thousand submissions from overseas and domestic teenagers from more than 20 countries and regions around the world. It has become an important brand and platform for the Zhongshan Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese to connect with overseas Chinese and promote cultural identity. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the competition, and the scale and format have been comprehensively upgraded. For the first time, six overseas sub-divisions covering Asia, Europe, Oceania and the Americas, as well as two independent overseas sub-divisions in the United States and Japan, have been set up. The final competition has moved from online to offline, with finalists from each sub-division gathering in Zhongshan for research-based creative activities. It is also combined with the "Charming Guangdong" Root-Seeking Winter Camp (Zhongshan), providing a vivid platform for overseas Chinese teenagers to experience Chinese culture and understand the development of the Greater Bay Area.

▲In 2024, the school received a Sino-German Chinese youth table tennis exchange delegation, leaving a deep impression on the German Chinese youth and their parents.

Dr Choi stated that CHES will actively encourage overseas Chinese and foreign students to participate in the competition and provide convenience for the final competition and the "Charming Guangdong" Root-Seeking Winter Camp (Zhongshan).

Since its establishment 31 years ago, CHES has nurtured more than 5,000 students across its Zhongshan and Jiangmen campuses, and more than 40% of these students are from China's Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan regions as well as from countries across five continents. For over 20 years, the school has organized overseas study tours during winter and summer vacations, covering major English-speaking countries. For 15 consecutive years, it has collaborated with relevant departments to host the Zhongshan "Taiwan Businesspeople's Children Summer Camp." The school also receives multiple overseas Chinese groups and ethnic Chinese youth root-seeking delegations for exchanges each year. Additionally, the school has been invited multiple times by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council and the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese to send hundreds of overseas Chinese students to Beijing to participate in the "Root-Seeking Journey in China" Summer Camp, allowing them to explore Chinese culture and experience the connection to the motherland alongside peers from around the world.